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Concilium #1
Concilium
"A tale of deadly creatures
and forbidden romance"
Leslee hit a strange animal with her car. Now she's marked for death.
It was a simple car accident--the animal didn't even die--but it drew the attention of the Cruor Imbibo. Driven by their insatiable need to feed, the secret society of Imbibo has devoured the dregs of civilization for centuries.
Afraid Leslee will expose them, and put an end to their meal ticket, the Imbibo want her dead.
The Concilium is Leslee's only protection. Guardian of the ancient secret and the protector of humans, the Concilium fights to control the Imbibo and end their feeding frenzy.
Miller works for the Concilium. Keeping Leslee alive is his next assignment.
Now Leslee is on the run, and the only thing between her flesh and the snapping jaws of the Imbibo is Miller. He and Leslee quickly form a bond, but will falling in love make Miller's job more difficult? Because if he fails, Leslee will be next on the Imbibo menu.
The Cruor Imbibo are coming, and they're coming for Leslee.
and forbidden romance"
Leslee hit a strange animal with her car. Now she's marked for death.
It was a simple car accident--the animal didn't even die--but it drew the attention of the Cruor Imbibo. Driven by their insatiable need to feed, the secret society of Imbibo has devoured the dregs of civilization for centuries.
Afraid Leslee will expose them, and put an end to their meal ticket, the Imbibo want her dead.
The Concilium is Leslee's only protection. Guardian of the ancient secret and the protector of humans, the Concilium fights to control the Imbibo and end their feeding frenzy.
Miller works for the Concilium. Keeping Leslee alive is his next assignment.
Now Leslee is on the run, and the only thing between her flesh and the snapping jaws of the Imbibo is Miller. He and Leslee quickly form a bond, but will falling in love make Miller's job more difficult? Because if he fails, Leslee will be next on the Imbibo menu.
The Cruor Imbibo are coming, and they're coming for Leslee.
333 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 27, 2012
1 person is currently reading
781 people want to read
About the author
Michelle K. Pickett
11 books895 followersNote: Though Michelle's blog entries are cross posted here, she does not frequent Goodreads regularly. The best way to contact her is through her
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Michelle is an award-winning YA author... but if you ask her who she really is, she'll answer, "I'm the wife of an amazing man, mom of four awesome kids, a reader of words, and writer of stories. I love candles and books, think garden gnomes are creepy and M&Ms are the perfect food (especially peanut butter). I live and write in Texas, but was born and raised in Flint, Michigan and will always think of the Great Lakes state as home."
Michelle is an award-winning YA author... but if you ask her who she really is, she'll answer, "I'm the wife of an amazing man, mom of four awesome kids, a reader of words, and writer of stories. I love candles and books, think garden gnomes are creepy and M&Ms are the perfect food (especially peanut butter). I live and write in Texas, but was born and raised in Flint, Michigan and will always think of the Great Lakes state as home."
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 24, 2017
CONCILIUM started off a bit rough for me. Leslee ('Les' to most people in what is arguably the saddest reason ever given for a nickname), does a lot of telling us everything. She hates her boss--so Pickett hammers that home repeatedly while having Les tell us repeatedly she hates her boss. Her best friend Jez is gorgeous and all the men fall for her--so Pickett hammers that home while having Les lament the fact she is so plain. The redundancy got annoying.
Thankfully Pickett reigns that in during the meat of the book itself--that is, after Les meets Miller and his team and the Cruor Imbibo are hunting her en masse, though it starts to crop again closer to the end of the novel.
What Pickett does really well is setting an atmosphere of tense anticipation. For a large chunk of the book there's really only Les, Miller and his team of 5 (Brooks, Alex, Chace, Quinn and Flynt) playing a waiting game with the Imbibo. The Imbibo attack, the men fight them off (mostly to large success), Les angsts over Miller--wash, rinse, repeat. This cycle reasserted itself quite a lot, but Pickett managed to make each 'new cycle' a little different.
Miller comes off as a jerk at first--treating Les curtly, ordering her around, basically doing his best a-hole impersonation (or not, depends on who you ask). Brooks, Alex, and Chace are much nicer and good-natured--but there was really no doubt that Les was into Miller. Quinn is a harder character to read, mostly because he begins the story angry and resentful, only marginally improving as time goes on. Flynt is given oddly little page time as compared to everyone else.
Pickett lays out some pretty good red-herrings as to who is the human counterpoint for the Imbibo, that is who's tracking Les' actions and reporting to them during the day. I was very certain I knew who it was, and I still hold out hope that there really is something shady there, but things were surprising (though sadly the motivations were not so much).
I got rather annoyed at Miller--or who Miller seemed to be. There's several times when the facts don't add up in his past romantic entanglements, and he's irritatingly 'But you are different Les' whenever Les calls him out on this stuff. She doesn't let it go precisely, but let's just say the synopsis for the next book (due out in a few months) reassured me far more then her actions at the end.
I really really want to know more about the Concilium's world. The little we read about them is not terribly reassuring? Its more a matter of their the lesser of two evils when considered against the Imbibo, protecting humanity more as an afterthought in their fight to keep the Imbibo under control then anything else. So in short I want to see them get their comeuppance. It should be fun. I hope Les delivers it.
Thankfully Pickett reigns that in during the meat of the book itself--that is, after Les meets Miller and his team and the Cruor Imbibo are hunting her en masse, though it starts to crop again closer to the end of the novel.
What Pickett does really well is setting an atmosphere of tense anticipation. For a large chunk of the book there's really only Les, Miller and his team of 5 (Brooks, Alex, Chace, Quinn and Flynt) playing a waiting game with the Imbibo. The Imbibo attack, the men fight them off (mostly to large success), Les angsts over Miller--wash, rinse, repeat. This cycle reasserted itself quite a lot, but Pickett managed to make each 'new cycle' a little different.
Miller comes off as a jerk at first--treating Les curtly, ordering her around, basically doing his best a-hole impersonation (or not, depends on who you ask). Brooks, Alex, and Chace are much nicer and good-natured--but there was really no doubt that Les was into Miller. Quinn is a harder character to read, mostly because he begins the story angry and resentful, only marginally improving as time goes on. Flynt is given oddly little page time as compared to everyone else.
Pickett lays out some pretty good red-herrings as to who is the human counterpoint for the Imbibo, that is who's tracking Les' actions and reporting to them during the day. I was very certain I knew who it was, and I still hold out hope that there really is something shady there, but things were surprising (though sadly the motivations were not so much).
I got rather annoyed at Miller--or who Miller seemed to be. There's several times when the facts don't add up in his past romantic entanglements, and he's irritatingly 'But you are different Les' whenever Les calls him out on this stuff. She doesn't let it go precisely, but let's just say the synopsis for the next book (due out in a few months) reassured me far more then her actions at the end.
I really really want to know more about the Concilium's world. The little we read about them is not terribly reassuring? Its more a matter of their the lesser of two evils when considered against the Imbibo, protecting humanity more as an afterthought in their fight to keep the Imbibo under control then anything else. So in short I want to see them get their comeuppance. It should be fun. I hope Les delivers it.
September 8, 2012
First a disclaimer: I DO NOT READ horror or monster or really gory stuff! But I'm in some online groups with Ms. Pickett and know she's a good writer so I bought her book.
The writing did not disappoint. From the moment Leslee's car hits some kind of strange animal, we expect something terrible to happen. And it does. And it gets worse.
At night, when she shelters in her secluded cottage in the woods, whispers in the forest soon give way to unearthly wails. Daylight brings the sight of dismembered neighbors - eaten by the Cruor Imbibo, scavengers from another dimension. Turns out the Imbibo are after Leslee because she saw something she shouldn't have when she hit the animal.
Now a special team from the Concilium (the secret agency set up to defend against the Imbibo) moves into her cottage to protect her. And Leslee falls for the leader Miller.
Between attacks from the Imbibo (they don't attack except at night) and snatched romantic moments with Miller, there's hardly room to breathe. And the twist at the ending...Oh, my!
A sequel is coming out at some point. I may not read it. I may still be too afraid of going out after dark.
Good read for anyone who enjoys their horror with some romance.
The writing did not disappoint. From the moment Leslee's car hits some kind of strange animal, we expect something terrible to happen. And it does. And it gets worse.
At night, when she shelters in her secluded cottage in the woods, whispers in the forest soon give way to unearthly wails. Daylight brings the sight of dismembered neighbors - eaten by the Cruor Imbibo, scavengers from another dimension. Turns out the Imbibo are after Leslee because she saw something she shouldn't have when she hit the animal.
Now a special team from the Concilium (the secret agency set up to defend against the Imbibo) moves into her cottage to protect her. And Leslee falls for the leader Miller.
Between attacks from the Imbibo (they don't attack except at night) and snatched romantic moments with Miller, there's hardly room to breathe. And the twist at the ending...Oh, my!
A sequel is coming out at some point. I may not read it. I may still be too afraid of going out after dark.
Good read for anyone who enjoys their horror with some romance.
June 14, 2013
AMAZING
October 20, 2012
Overall, I gave this book four stars. I really enjoyed the suspenseful plot, but there was just one thing that I could not get past. There was virtually no description of the main character, Leslee. We are told she is "plain," however there were no more details about her appearance which I would have like since it was hard to really get a clear picture of her in my mind. Also, there was no much detail given about the other characters and what happened in the forest each night.
Aside from the lack of description and details that I mentioned above, the book did keep my interest and I did not put it down until I finished reading it. Interesting plot and I can't wait to read the next book.
Aside from the lack of description and details that I mentioned above, the book did keep my interest and I did not put it down until I finished reading it. Interesting plot and I can't wait to read the next book.
November 9, 2012
Another of my favorite books. I am so excited for the series. Surprisingly, I am in love with Miller. What a great, new story! I would recommend this book to anyone!
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October 4, 2012Well it must be just me because I did not get on at all, I found Les annoying and writing style not for me - horses for courses I suppose .. gave up will go back at a later date and try again....
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews